93 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 13, 1860. 
well drained. A dry, gravelly, or sandy border, gently sloping to 
the south or south-west, will be found a favourable site ; a flat 
surface will, however, do well if fully exposed to the sun. 
“ When the site is determined on, a trench should be dug 
2 feet wide on the surface and 15 inches deep, sloping on each 
side to the bottom, which should be 6 inches wide ; the bottom 
must be paved with tiles, placed lengthwise, and the sides lined 
with the slates called duchesses, also placed lengthwise. 
“ On each side of this trench, on the surface of the soil, a row 
of bricks must be placed 2 inches apart, end to end, leaving 
spaces between each brick 2 inches wide—these are for ventilation. 
On these two rows of bricks the roof is to be placed, which 
would be a ridge of the following dimensions :—2 feet 6 inches 
wide at bottom, and 15 inches deep from the centre to the apex. 
It should be made in lengths of 7 feet, two of which, placed end 
to end, form one vinery 14 feet long. Each length should be 
glazed with four pieces of glass ; and as each sloping side of the 
ridge is 20 inches deep, four pieces of glass about 20 inches 
square for each side will be required. The two outer ends must 
be closed with board : at one end a notch should be cut in the 
board to admit the stem of the Vine, which should be planted out¬ 
side, so that its stem is on a level with the surface of the soil out¬ 
side ; the soil the Vine is planted in should be well stirred, 2 feet 
deep, over a space 6 feet square, and enriched with rotten manure, 
and what are called one-incli bones or ‘ bone dust.’ The Vine, 
when planted, should be introduced and suffered to grow as in a 
common vinery till it reaches the end. Pruning on the spur 
system is the only method to be followed. To support the Vine 
in the centre, pieces of slight iron rod should by placed across 
the furrow, 2 feet apart, resting on the surface outside; to these 
the stem of the Vine should be fastened, so as to be under the 
centre of the roof. The bunches of Grapes will thus hang in the 
centre of the furrow, and, owing to the radiation of heat from 
the slates and tiles, they will ripen well. I need scarcely mention 
that in pruning, either in winter or summer, the two lengths of 
ridge forming the roof must be taken off and replaced when the 
operation is finished. Owing to the moisture from the soil, red 
spider but rarely makes its appearance; but it will be a sure 
preventive if flowers of sulphur are kept thickly sprinkled on the 
slates and tiles during the months of June and July. It is 
not only for Vines that these strictly-called ridge-ancl-furrow 
vineries are adapted—Pears on the Quince stock, and Peaches 
and Nectarines, all cultivated as closely-primed pyramids, may 
be grown in them ; the latter would require to be lifted annually 
in November, to keep down excessive vigour. A seven-feet length 
closed at one end, should be appropriated to one tree, the open 
end towards the root. 
“ Their cost for carpentry, as given by my village builder, is 
(is. Gd. for each seven-feet length; glass, about 4s. So that a 
vinery for one Vine will cost, including slates and bricks, 
about 25 s. 
“There are several garden purposes to which these simple 
structures may be applied. I fill my trench half full of rich 
mould early in November, and plant in it Endive and Cabbage 
Lettuces for winter and early spring salads. 
“ In gardens where these glazed ridge-roofs are not wanted for 
Vines or fruit-tree culture, they will be found most useful. They 
may be placed on any warm border on the surface of the soil, 
and early Peas, French Beans, and many other early vegetables 
requiring protection from spring frosts be grown under them 
with advantage. In all cases they should be placed on bricks, 
with spaces between them. Ventilation is then secured; and 
even Cauliflower plants in winter will do well without the con¬ 
stant attention to ‘giving air,’ so necessary in the old garden 
frame culture. In gardens that are confined and very warm, it j 
may be necessary to have the ends not quite closed up, but a | 
small opening left at the top, at a in the figure, just under the 
ridge, to let out the heated air. My vinery stands in a very 
exposed place, and has not required it.” 
In reference to the foregoing we have received the following 
from Mr. Rivers :— 
“ I send you a slight modification of that humble vinery, 
which I find simple, eligible, and agreeable, and likely to super¬ 
sede the original form. 
“ It was one day about the end of June last, that I found 
myself looking into my original * Curate’s Vinery,’ and ad¬ 
miring the Vines then in blossom, although those within a few 
yards of it growing in the open air were scarcely in full leaf. I 
pictured to myself the bunches of Grapes suspended from the 
Vines in the warm, moist atmosphere of the trench lined with 
slates. My thoughts then reverted to my boyish Grape-loving 
days, when, in an old vineyard planted by my grandfather, I 
always looked for some ripe Grapes about the end of September; 
and I vividly remembered that I always found the best and 
ripest bunches with the largest berries lying on the ground, and 
if the season were dry and warm, they were free from dirt, and 
delicious (I think I always strongly accented the de), and so I 
gradually travelled in thought from bunches of Grapes lying on 
the ground to idem lying on slates. 
“ The idea was new, and I commenced at once to put it into 
practice by building a ‘Curate’s Vinery ’ on a new plan. 
“I, therefore, placed two rows of bricks endwise (leaving four 
inches between each brick for ventilation) on a nice level piece 
of sandy ground, and then paved between them with large 
slates (‘ duchesses ’) placed crosswise. On the bricks I placed 
two of the ridges of glass, as given in the foregoing figure, 
each 7 2 feet long, and thus formed my vinery 15 feet in 
length. One Vine will in the course of two years fill a vinery 
of this length ; but to reap the fruits of my project quickly, I 
planted two Vines, one in the centre, the other at the north-east 
end; for these structures should stand north-east and south¬ 
west. One of these Vines which had been growing in a pot in 
the open air was just beginning to show its fruit-buds—it wa3 
quite the last of June—its fruit are now fully coloured and 
quite ripe. I, therefore, feel tolerably well assured that Grapes 
lying on a floor of slates such as I have described, will ripen 
from two to three weeks earlier than in vineries of this de¬ 
scription with a furrow', and as much earlier than Grapes in a 
common cold vinery. Black Hamburghs and other kinds of 
Grapes not requiring fire heat may thus be grown in any small 
garden at a trifling expense. I am, indeed, inclined to think 
that the Frontignans, and nearly all but the Muscats, may be 
ripened by this method, so intense is the heat of the slated floor 
on a sunny day in July. 
“ Some persons may think that the heat would be scorching, 
and that leaves and Grapes would alike become frizzled; but 
few gardeners know the extreme heat a bunch of Grapes can 
bear. I remember a lady friend who had resided some time at 
Smyrna, telling me that one afternoon at the end of summer, 
when the Grapes were ripening, she was sitting in her drawing¬ 
room and admiring some large bunches of Grapes hanging on a 
Vine which was growing against a wall in the full sunshine. 
Knowing the danger of going into the open ah- without a parasol, 
she rushed out, cut a bunch of Grapes, and returned to her seat 
in the shady room. The bunch of Grapes was so hot that she 
was obliged to shift it from hand to hand. I observed in the 
hot weather we had in July last year, one or two bunches of 
Muscat Grapes nearly touching the chimney of the stove in 
which a fire -was kept up every morning, gradually turning into 
raisins. I felt of them when the sun w T as shining on them, they 
were not burning hot but next to it. 
“ I allowed them to dry into raisins, and very fine they- were, 
but not better than the finest imported from Spain. 
“ With respect to the superior ripening power of slates or 
tiles placed on the surface of the earth I was much interested in 
once hearing a travelled friend say that when he was at Paros, 
he observed many Vines trained up the marble rocks peculiar to 
the island; and in all cases the Grapes lying on the surface, 
which was almost a continuous mass of rock, were ripe, while 
those a few feet from it, on the same Vine, some of the branches 
of which were trained up the wall-like rocks, were quite green. 
In telling me this he said he was never more impressed with the 
ripening power of the earth’s surface. 
“ I have, in giving the figure and description of the ‘ Curate’s 
Vinery,’ made it adapted for one Vine, the width of it being 
2 feet 6 inches only. If this width be increased to 3 feet 6 inches 
